In western culture and the church, we try to answer this question in a rational way. We apply standard doctrinal statements and descriptions. We apply "scientific" personality, aptitude, and ministry survey tests. We learn to describe ourselves (and others) by categories and groups, adjectives and measures, and according to what use we are to various groups. Doctrinally, we are children of God, the redeemed of the Lord, members of the body of Christ, and other things that apply to all believers. To differentiate this, we are members (or not members) of a particular denomination or adherents to a particular set of beliefs. We describe ourselves (and others) by our political leanings of liberal, conservative, or other. We describe ourselves as part of various cultural demographics. We describe ourselves by our occupation and education. In a nutshell, we figure out what groups we belong to and what groups we do not belong to and identify ourselves by group membership.
We take personality tests, aptitude tests, ministry surveys, and other such things to learn more about ourselves. And then we add those results to the ever-growing list of things that describe us. We seek after God's guidance to figure out what He wants us to be doing. We look for the great Call on our lives that will put everything in perspective that we can pursue and commit ourselves to. We try to figure out what God wants us to be doing in the next hour, day, week, month, year, and decades.
In other words, we have learned to apply some variation of the scientific method to try to answer the question of who we are (and what we are good at doing) and make some progress. But, that does not answer the question, Who did God create you to be? Not the generic vanilla answers that apply to all Christians that we can more or less recite from memory, but the unique specific question of who did God create you to be? No one except God can answer this question and the answer will be to you alone.
I've come to see that our western rational approach has limitations. In the church, we're close to exhausting what can be learned using this methodology. It's wildly successful at efficiency and trying to achieve goals and improve things that can be measured. But, it has failed to to help us figure out who God created us (as unique individuals) to be. It has also causes us to become used to near instantaneous feedback. Take a test to learn your gifts so you can enroll in classes to learn to use them. Take a test to learn your weak points so you can figure out how to improve. How to figure out God's will for your life in 3 easy steps. It keeps us busy doing worthwhile things, but I'm not sure how much it helps us figure out who God wants us to be.
I've come to believe that we have to take a step back away from everything around us that has shaped us. We have become so used to being members of groups and learning how to fit in, that we've lost most of our ability to see ourselves. We act differently around family, friends, at work, in church, in political circles, in our demographic circles, in order to fit in. This is not an indictment of this, we do need to adapt ourselves to others to some extent. However, most us of have lost our ability to see ourselves. We've become an eclectic amalgam of meeting expectations. We've put on various masks so long that we can longer recognize our own face.
How to see our own face? The face that God gave you and wants you to show to the world. The face that will reflect Him to the world. I think we need to take a series of baby steps in that direction. There is no "how to find out who I am in 5 steps." There is only a slow process of God showing you who you are if we are open to that.
The next entries in this blog will be about some things that have helped me and others in this process.
We take personality tests, aptitude tests, ministry surveys, and other such things to learn more about ourselves. And then we add those results to the ever-growing list of things that describe us. We seek after God's guidance to figure out what He wants us to be doing. We look for the great Call on our lives that will put everything in perspective that we can pursue and commit ourselves to. We try to figure out what God wants us to be doing in the next hour, day, week, month, year, and decades.
In other words, we have learned to apply some variation of the scientific method to try to answer the question of who we are (and what we are good at doing) and make some progress. But, that does not answer the question, Who did God create you to be? Not the generic vanilla answers that apply to all Christians that we can more or less recite from memory, but the unique specific question of who did God create you to be? No one except God can answer this question and the answer will be to you alone.
I've come to see that our western rational approach has limitations. In the church, we're close to exhausting what can be learned using this methodology. It's wildly successful at efficiency and trying to achieve goals and improve things that can be measured. But, it has failed to to help us figure out who God created us (as unique individuals) to be. It has also causes us to become used to near instantaneous feedback. Take a test to learn your gifts so you can enroll in classes to learn to use them. Take a test to learn your weak points so you can figure out how to improve. How to figure out God's will for your life in 3 easy steps. It keeps us busy doing worthwhile things, but I'm not sure how much it helps us figure out who God wants us to be.
I've come to believe that we have to take a step back away from everything around us that has shaped us. We have become so used to being members of groups and learning how to fit in, that we've lost most of our ability to see ourselves. We act differently around family, friends, at work, in church, in political circles, in our demographic circles, in order to fit in. This is not an indictment of this, we do need to adapt ourselves to others to some extent. However, most us of have lost our ability to see ourselves. We've become an eclectic amalgam of meeting expectations. We've put on various masks so long that we can longer recognize our own face.
How to see our own face? The face that God gave you and wants you to show to the world. The face that will reflect Him to the world. I think we need to take a series of baby steps in that direction. There is no "how to find out who I am in 5 steps." There is only a slow process of God showing you who you are if we are open to that.
The next entries in this blog will be about some things that have helped me and others in this process.
